taint1
[teynt]
- a trace of something bad, offensive, or harmful.
- a trace of infection, contamination, or the like.
- a trace of dishonor or discredit.
- Obsolete. color; tint.
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- to modify by or as if by a trace of something offensive or deleterious.
- to infect, contaminate, corrupt, or spoil.
- to sully or tarnish (a person's name, reputation, etc.).
- Obsolete. to color or tint.
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- to become tainted; spoil.
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Origin of taint1
1325–75; conflation of Middle English taynt, aphetic variant of attaint struck, attainted, past participle of attainten to attaint; late Middle English taynt hue, tint < Anglo-French teint (< Latin tinctus, equivalent to ting(ere) to dye, tinge + -tus suffix of v. action); and teinte < Late Latin tincta inked stroke, noun use of feminine of past participle of tingere
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
unsulliedpristineangelicangelicalchastecleanclearexemplaryfaultlessgoodguiltlesshonestimmaculateimpeccableinculpableirreproachablelawfullegallegitimatelicitExamples from the Web for untainted
Contemporary Examples
Big critic Neil Barofsky was ‘untainted by financial knowledge.’
He and his band are untainted by political skullduggery and economic interest, not to mention accusations of theft.
Short on experience but untainted by Washington, this one is in touch with the people.
Unfortunately, Republicans will do their best to run candidates in swing districts who are untainted by the Bush years.
Historical Examples
He saw in her the same beauty of untainted innocence he had known in his youth.
The OctopusFrank Norris
If I ask for blood it is for untainted, not what you call high blood.
The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, CompleteGeorge Meredith
He is untainted by the ungenial formality of our German professors.
Your blood is that of the Castriots, and untainted by Moslem touch.
The Captain of the JanizariesJames M. Ludlow
His piety is as untainted as his purity; it is the maiden-service of a maiden-saint.
Studies of the Greek Poets (Vol II of 2)John Addington Symonds
untainted
- not tarnished, contaminated, or pollutedhe was untainted by the scandal
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taint
- to affect or be affected by pollution or contaminationoil has tainted the water
- to tarnish (someone's reputation, etc)
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- a defect or flawa taint on someone's reputation
- a trace of contamination or infection
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Word Origin
C14: (influenced by attaint infected, from attain) from Old French teindre to dye, from Latin tingere to dye
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for untainted
taint
v.
1570s, "to corrupt, contaminate," also "to touch, tinge, imbue slightly" (1590s), from Middle English teynten "to convict, prove guilty" (late 14c.), partly from Old French ataint, past participle of ataindre "to touch upon, seize" (see attainder). Also from Anglo-French teinter "to color, dye" (early 15c.), from Old French teint (12c.), past participle of teindre "to dye, color," from Latin tingere (see tincture). Related: Tainted; tainting.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper